Improvement in the manufacture of elastic cloth



J. Y MANUFAGTI' NEWELL B 0F BLASTI o LOTE wkn...

Y Patented Sept UNrrEDV .STATES PATENT GEEICE.

`JOHN W; ,NEWELL or NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY.

aMPRovi-:MENT :NIH-E MANUFACTURE oF-ELAst-rlc onori-l.

Specification forming part. of Letters .Patent No. 33,36! dated September 24, 186| .To ad whom may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. NEWELL, of

the city of New Brunswick, in the county of Middlesex and State ot New Jersey, have invented 'a newjand useful description of Elastic Cloth, which I denominate Newell Elastic Clothg and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had'A to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 2 represents the arrangement of the warp and'wet't threads ot' the textile material of which my new elastic cloth is in part coin- Elastic cloths found in the market consist ot combinationsof india rubber with textile materials, and may be divided into four classes, viz: first, that in which a stockinet fabric is combined with india-rubber either 'in Sheets4 or in strands; second,.that in which textile materials are, combined with `ind-iarubber in an extended condition either by cement or by weaving them upon the rubber, so that when the rubber is released from tension and permitted to contract the threads ot' the textile fabric are gathered up into waves or shit-red, whence this description of elastic cloth is commonly called shirred or corrugated goods; third, that in- ,which textile threads are braided upon strands of india-nnbber; fourth, that-in whicha woven fabric with its warp-threads extended at an acute angle with the weft-th reads is combinedvwith india-- rubber, which description of elastic cloth is' known as Solis cloth or. 'lyervand'llelmcloth. Each of these classes, although useful, has detects peculiar to itself. The stocki net elastic cloth is defective on accountot' 1 the peculiar stockinet'snrface which `it pre- 'lhe shirred goods are defective be sauts. cause of their 'corrugated su rfacc, ot' the cost of their inannfactt1i'e,and because the rubber is -divided into strands, which being separated from each other do not sustain cach other."

There is alsoa difficulty in properly securing the strands at their ends when applying the elastic cloth to other fabrics. llence the ends of the strands frequentlyget loose'and slip bctweenvthe layers of the textile fabric, thus rendering the' shirred elastic cloth valueless.

The braided goods are defective in the's'ame respects as 'above stated in` reference to the shirred goods, and in addition thetextile surface produced by braiding. opens 4when the elastic cloth iscxtendcd and is then loose upon the rubber strands. i The Solis cloth, or'

that. produced under the 'lycr and Helm pat- -en t-,presents a goed surface and 'is free from the defects above stated in reference to the first .three descriptions ot' elastic cloth; but.

woven and by the width of the calender-rollers which are employed to apply the' elastic lgum toit, the length of thestrip of elastic cloth is necessarily limited, and itis practically impossible to make-elastic strips ofany great length upon the Solis and 'lyer and Helm plans. Then again, as t this description of cloth is used mainly for elastic goresl of Congress boots, which gores are not of uniform size, but vary in dimensions according tothe size of the boot-s, and as the length ot the strips.

of elastic cloth ispractically limited by the breadth of the cloth of which theyare formed the cutting up of the strips into gores prod uces a large number of small remnants which K are ofV no practical value. The Solis cloth is also objectionable from the use of a solventv ot` india-rubber in the cement used in its manufacture, because the solvent remaining .in the fabric tends to lcanse it to rot ordecom- Y pose. My invention consists in au elastic cloth which is free from the defcetsabove referred to; and it consists in a compound lfabric produced by the combination of two sheets of woven cloth, obtained by cutting tubular cloth spirally, with allayer of the vulcanizable compound of elastic gum (such asiindiarubber) and by vulcnizing the combined cloth and compound so as to render the com bination permanent. This elastic cloth may be made of indefinite length andvelastic in the direction either of its length or width, as desired, and with or without finished or turned edges without requiring any increase in the p breadth of the 1oom`required to weave the woven cloth orin the width of the calenderrollers used in manufacturing it into elastic cloth and without the employment of a solvent for the elastic gum.

In orderto produce such elasticcloth, I pro-`v cure sheets of tubular cloth woven in a loom having heddles for forming two shedsand capable of throwingthe same shuttle alternately through each shed'. Such aloom is employed to weave bags, and the cloth produced by it has the form of a flattened tubular sheet consisting of two Hat sheets united at their edges.

Thecloth tube may be wovenlof any desired length accord-ing to the length et' the warpthreads used, and :ts-these may be pieced, it necessar a tube of'iudetinite length may be woven. Having procured the .hat tube, I cut the npper'half of it diagonally t9 the warp and weft threads, as shown vbythe lines e c', Fig. 1, and extend the cut diagonally through the lower half of it in the direct-ion of the dotted lilies d'dof Fig. l, so that the tube is cut spirally. 'lhe eut -cloth when unfolded and extended produces a sheet, as shownv at Fig. 2, in whiclrboth the warp and weft threads are oblique to the direction of its length, and which may be denominated diagonal clot-h. Ihe length of this sheet is limited only by the length of the fiat tube of which it was formed, and this, as stated before, may be indefinite` Havingprooureil.-

two sheets of the woven diagonal cloth in this form, I proceed to manufacture them v into elasticeloth. I apply one of the sheets of diagonal cloth to a thin layer of thevulcanizab'le compound of india-rubber by means of thev calender-rolls generally used' in india-y 4rubber and gutta-percha factories for spreading the vulcanizable putty-like compounds of these gums upon cloth. I then apply the second ysheet to the opposite side of thelayer of the Vuleanizable compound, after which the whole is subjected to a sufficient heat to effeet the vuleanization of thelayer of the gum,l whereby thev combination of the gum and sheets-ot' diagonal cloth is'rendered permanent.

sheets of diagonal cloth sidewise beforevanf.

'llhe'vuleanization is to be e'tected in stoves or heaters in the usual manner prac-l i plying them to the vuleauizable compound, so as to canse the threads to assume the positions shown at Fig. 3; and if the fabric lis, -to be highly elastic in the direction of its breadth I "strain the two sheets et diagonal cloth lengthwise before applying them to the vulturnedhedges, I cut one sheet of the diagonal clothri'arro'wen than the other sheet, and be- -fore vulcanization I turn the lmargins of the wide sheet over upon those of the narrow sheet, securing the overlapping .margins by means of 'the' layer of the vulcanizable com; pound. 'l he compound fabric thus obtained is distinguished from preceding fabrics, first, by the nat-ure' of the woven cloth used-inits manufacture, which, as before stated, is that obtained by cutting tubular cloth spirally; second, bythe mode of combining the two sheets ot' said cloth, which is by a layer of the vulcauizable compound ot' the elastic gu m,

tion permanent, which is by vulcanizingitafter-the cloth and gum are united, and` these three clmracteristicsI are essential'. l

Having thus described my invention sufficiently to enable vmanufactures of elastic that my invention is not limited to any pe; euliar mode of applying the cloth and gum,"

Apose, asv these may be varied. I haveno't chineryrequired to weavethe cloth,"orto apply it to the gum, as machinery suitable for the former is welll known: to manufacturers the latter is well known to manufacturers of elastic cloth.v i, V What I claim asmyy invention in this patent,

and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

ric produced bythe combination of two sheets of woven cloth `.obtainedby cutting tubular cloth sp'irally wit a layer of elastic gum,`

rendered permanefi/i/tl by vulcanization, substantiallyas herein set for-th.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name. A

y u l. JN. W. NEWELL. Witnesses:` f

A. D. NEWELL,

H. A. HULL. f

canizable compound. lIt the fabric is to have third, by the mode of making the combinacloth to practice it, I deem it proper to state nor to any peculiarmaehinery for the pur-` deemecLit;proper to. describe in detail the ma of tubular cloth or-bags, and machinery for' An elastic cloth which is a compound fab-l "suc'lll as india-rubber, the combination beingA 

